the.com/extinction event
the planet's reset button, pressed by asteroids, ice, or occasionally us.
means a geologically short period when an abnormally large share of species die out worldwide.
from from latin exstinguere, to extinguish, paired with the geological habit of naming boundaries where the fossil record just stops.
big fivepaleontologists count five major mass extinctions so far
worst onepermian wipeout killed roughly 90 percent of species
recovery timeecosystems typically need millions of years to rebound
current debatescientists argue we are living through a sixth
for instance
permian triassic — 252 million years ago, siberian traps eruptions, near-total marine wipeout
cretaceous paleogene — 66 million years ago, chicxulub asteroid, ended non-avian dinosaurs
ordovician silurian — 445 million years ago, glaciation and sea level collapse
holocene extinction — ongoing, human driven habitat loss and climate change